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Playing with an Idea
May. 7th, 2010 09:39 amSainthood.
It's a loaded word, even for someone like me who has never participated in a tradition which acknowledges saints. And yet it burst into my meditation the other night with strange power as I was reflecting on identity, being, and doing.
I'm usually a stickler for using words with precise meaning whenever possible, but I'm going to ask everyone's indulgence here as I play with the term.
What is a saint?
For me, the first thing that came to mind was a person of "heroic faith" -- someone whose beliefs and their adherence to them are so far beyond what most people are capable of they are ultimate role models.
Beyond that there is an idea of intercession. As I understand it, a saint is someone who, by virtue of their heroic faith, is able to step in and either convince deity to act on behalf of another or perhaps take direct action themselves.
But neither of those concepts is what moved me the other night. Instead, I started thinking of a saint as a person whose life/presence/being is a theophany, a revelation of the divine.
A saint is someone who lives in such deep and constant communion with the divine they become an exceptionally potent channel or marker of Presence, and others can be nurtured, encouraged, uplifted, inspired, given hope simply by being around such a person.
Ultimately, it's not about doing, it's about being. It's not about accomplishing or achieving specific tasks or assignments. It's about living in a connected, open way. I'm certain that from that state of being, doing also happens, and does so in perhaps a remarkable way, but it's not the deeds that are the mark of a saint. It's the divine presence coming through them into the world. Achieving that state may be a result of doing, or it may simply happen by grace, but it's not achieved like a good grade or a project.
I remain convinced that doing is important. Spiritual practices are foundational across all religious traditions for a reason. And we live in a material world where tasks need to be done in order to survive.
But it's a comfort to me to contemplate that place beyond -- or perhaps beside is the better term -- doing that is perhaps even more potent.
In the context of these thoughts, "sainthood" isn't an exalted status conferred on the heroic for above-and-beyond, supernatural spiritual greatness. It's the ability to be so much in communion with the Divine/Spirit that it can't help but flow through the person into the world around them. It can be manifested through doing, but it's more about presence.
None of this is actually a new idea. As I've been typing this, I hear echoes of teachings I've heard from both Christians and Buddhists (and probably others), but it's all striking me in a new way, at this turn of my life when identity and work are central concerns.
How much do I obsess about Doing Things when I could benefit from focusing a bit more on Being With?
This is all still very rough, but it's what's been on my mind these past few days.
It's a loaded word, even for someone like me who has never participated in a tradition which acknowledges saints. And yet it burst into my meditation the other night with strange power as I was reflecting on identity, being, and doing.
I'm usually a stickler for using words with precise meaning whenever possible, but I'm going to ask everyone's indulgence here as I play with the term.
What is a saint?
For me, the first thing that came to mind was a person of "heroic faith" -- someone whose beliefs and their adherence to them are so far beyond what most people are capable of they are ultimate role models.
Beyond that there is an idea of intercession. As I understand it, a saint is someone who, by virtue of their heroic faith, is able to step in and either convince deity to act on behalf of another or perhaps take direct action themselves.
But neither of those concepts is what moved me the other night. Instead, I started thinking of a saint as a person whose life/presence/being is a theophany, a revelation of the divine.
A saint is someone who lives in such deep and constant communion with the divine they become an exceptionally potent channel or marker of Presence, and others can be nurtured, encouraged, uplifted, inspired, given hope simply by being around such a person.
Ultimately, it's not about doing, it's about being. It's not about accomplishing or achieving specific tasks or assignments. It's about living in a connected, open way. I'm certain that from that state of being, doing also happens, and does so in perhaps a remarkable way, but it's not the deeds that are the mark of a saint. It's the divine presence coming through them into the world. Achieving that state may be a result of doing, or it may simply happen by grace, but it's not achieved like a good grade or a project.
I remain convinced that doing is important. Spiritual practices are foundational across all religious traditions for a reason. And we live in a material world where tasks need to be done in order to survive.
But it's a comfort to me to contemplate that place beyond -- or perhaps beside is the better term -- doing that is perhaps even more potent.
In the context of these thoughts, "sainthood" isn't an exalted status conferred on the heroic for above-and-beyond, supernatural spiritual greatness. It's the ability to be so much in communion with the Divine/Spirit that it can't help but flow through the person into the world around them. It can be manifested through doing, but it's more about presence.
None of this is actually a new idea. As I've been typing this, I hear echoes of teachings I've heard from both Christians and Buddhists (and probably others), but it's all striking me in a new way, at this turn of my life when identity and work are central concerns.
How much do I obsess about Doing Things when I could benefit from focusing a bit more on Being With?
This is all still very rough, but it's what's been on my mind these past few days.
